


Honeysuckle

by lilacnightmares



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: 3 Original Character(s), Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Bad Flirting, Blood, Coercion, Depression, Elixir of Salvation (Mystic Messenger), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mental Instability, Multi, Power Dynamics, Self-Worth Issues, Separation Anxiety, there's two ships here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23087440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacnightmares/pseuds/lilacnightmares
Summary: Fate seemed to have other plans in store for Saeran and Saeyoung Choi then what they ever expected. One path that is bathed in the light and the other is drowned in the darkness. They are taking different roads and what will happen when those roads diverge? One time will tell their fates and if they're destined to be happy or wrought with sorrow.Vampire AU.(Saeran x OC)(OC x Seven x OC)
Relationships: Choi Luciel/Main Character/Original Male Character(s), Choi Saeran/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. Act I

_“Saeyoung… come back… please… please…!”_

_“You pathetic bug. Are you still groveling and whining because that stupid Saeyoung went off and got himself killed?! I warned him what would happen if Saejoong knew! He didn't listen! Do you know what happens to boys that don't listen?”_

_“You're hurting me… please, Saeyoung, help!”_

**_“I’ll teach you never to make a fuss again, Saeran Choi.”_ **

* * *

  
Saeran awoke with a start in bed.

How many nights had he had that dream and how many nights had passed since he had been able to leave that place behind? He wasn’t sure at the moment. What he did know was that he felt cold and clammy. 

He reached up and ran a hand through his red locks to wipe the sweat from his forehead. 

He looked around the room and waited for his vision to clear up from the night of restless sleep. The room was dark but there was a night light on the corner of the room and although it was mostly barren of objects and things, there was a comfy bed and there was no sign of ropes or a basement. It was very unlike the floor and damp cement he was used to. 

It took a moment for him to realize that he wasn’t back at his childhood home. 

Rather, he was in the household of V and Rika, and he had been for some time now as they had taken him in after his Mom went seemingly missing one day. 

He still wasn’t used to that and he doubted he would ever be. Often when he was plagued by these horrid nightmares, he would find himself wandering the halls of his own accord during the night time to clear his thoughts. 

Saeran stumbled out of bed and rubbed at his eyes, walking out of his room and down the hall with no destination in mind. In this house, nobody was waiting to punish him for leaving his room and that notion still left him feeling strange. It had only been a couple of months since the tragic incident occurred, and the young boy was still trying to get his footing. 

There were sounds of somebody rustling around in the house apart from him. 

That wasn’t all that strange. He knew that the people he was staying with had strange hours due to their work, at least, that’s what they told him when he started staying with them. Saeran peeked into one room and saw nobody was in it, and then he glanced into another one and also found that it was empty.   
Where were they? 

V… was usually nice about helping himself after a really bad night. Rika was also very kind to him when he needed somebody. 

Were they hiding? Were they waiting for him to make a mistake so that they could yell at him and laugh in his face for believing they were going to be nice to somebody as pathetic as him? 

His breath was a bit strangled in his chest as he walked towards the room at the end of the hall where the light was on. His footsteps were light, delicate, and hardly made a sound. He and Saeyoung had learned how to move around without making noise, at least, not making as much noise as they possibly could. 

Saeran’s blood was pumping so quickly that he could feel it burning in his chest. 

A part of him wanted to believe that none of the thoughts that he was thinking were true but another part of him was scared and almost certain that his relative happiness here with V and Rika would come to an end the moment they realized he was nothing special. 

His thoughts were clouded with these notions as he reached the end of the hallway and turned to look into the kitchen where he found Rika and V, they were laughing and speaking without a care in the world as V cooked and Rika fiddled with decorative pieces. Saeran was perplexed and the confusion was written all over his face until they noticed him standing in the doorway. 

“Good morning, Saeran,” V greeted with a smile. “I didn’t think you would be awake this earlier just yet.” 

“...Morning,” he said, quietly.

His voice was barely above that of a small whisper. Saeran fiddled with his sleeves in front of himself. He wasn’t the best at talking to other people and he never felt quite right when people addressed him. He took a seat at the table with them, although he still wasn’t sure if they wanted him to be there with them. 

Rika pressed a hand to his shoulder. It was so cold that he could feel the chill through the fabric of his shirt. She was always cold. Saeran didn’t think it was that much of a bad thing, he was often sick and plagued with fevers. Sometimes that touch soothed him. 

Her smile was always directed at others, although she would never flash a toothy grin at him. “I can’t wait any longer, V. The excitement is overwhelming. Good morning to you, Saeran. Do you happen to know what today is?” 

Saeran nervously looked down at his lap, and then around the room to see if he could locate a calendar of some sort. When he couldn’t find one, he just settled his vision back on the ground. He didn’t know what the date was and he wasn’t sure why it be anything special. Why would today be different than any other day? 

“I… I don’t know,” Saeran mumbled. “Is it something important?”

Rika and V exchanged looks. It was quiet for a moment. Perhaps they were pitying him, still, or maybe they were reasoning something else. Then, the sound of a plate touching the table made him lookup. It was a slice of cake, Saeran noted. 

Why? 

“Happy birthday, Saeran!” she said, gleefully.

V’s face was a little red. He rubbed at the back of his neck, “You mentioned that you liked this flavor, so I thought it was the perfect time to make you something special. I hope you like it… I’m not the best at cooking, you know, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the years.”

Oh. 

He hadn’t even thought about his birthday before. It had never been something that he or his brother thought about. It was never a happy thing. The day that they were born was the day that they were doomed to be miserable until they were put out of their misery. 

He thought that one day his body may just give up on him, but he and Saeyoung had promised each other to keep on living. 

He had to keep surviving even if his brother wasn’t there with him. Saeran missed him, and he hoped that he was okay, where ever he was. He prayed nightly that she was wrong about him getting killed by their Dad.

He was eleven years old today, he remembered. He had been alive for more than a decade, now, and somehow he was still kicking. This was the first birthday that he would be without his brother by his side, and he didn’t know it at the time, but it was the first of many birthdays that would be the very same way. 

But, he thought, maybe it wasn’t so bad. 

He had Rika and V with him now, and they seemed to like him. 

He wasn’t sure that he was worthy of this kind of affection. It still felt nice and he didn’t want to seem ungrateful to them for what they were doing. 

Saeran’s eyes felt wet for some reason. He reached up and brushed his fingers to his face only to find that he was crying again. He couldn’t stop the tears from flooding out of his eyes, not even as he thanked both of them for being so nice to him. 

“I… I can’t make them stop… I can’t stop crying. I’m sorry. I just… I don’t… I’ve never celebrated my birthday before. Saeyoung… and I never got to do stuff like that. Mom wouldn’t let us do anything but stay inside… Thank you…!”

He decided that he would try to keep on going not only for his brother Saeyoung but for the sake of Rika and V. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

Seasons passed, fall, winter, spring, summer, and then it would repeat itself over and over again. 

Saeran got used to living with his new family. It was a little strange but it was still something far better than anything else he ever had. He would spend most of his time in the house but he had the freedom to go outside as much as he wanted during the day time. His favorite thing to do was to watch the clouds. 

But, when he wasn’t doing that on his own, he would help V in the garden. 

He wasn’t the best when it came to it but he could spend hours examining different kinds as he searched for their names and tried to decide their classifications. He could learn anything that he wanted and that was the one thing that he decided he wanted to know. 

He had never had friends before, but he considered all the flowers in the garden to be such. After all, he took care of them and they repaid him by blooming in season and becoming vibrant petals with a wild array of colors. He felt strangely content with that. However, it wasn’t always fun and games with this new life. 

He would spend many hours in the evenings learning with Rika. 

She had taken it upon herself to help him with his education and while she could be a very strict teacher, she always coaxed him when he made mistakes and corrected them. There were many times when he felt like things didn’t make sense; Rika, however, pushed him to work harder and more than he ever had. 

Saeran didn’t mind studying. 

He did want to know more about the real world, he wanted to see and learn as much as he could if he could have the chance to roam free without worrying about a target on his back. He was still scared of that freedom, though, despite how much he craved it, as Rika had reminded him that it wasn’t safe for him out there.

Her voice would always become nervous, panicked even when he brought it up. 

Saeran started to speak less and less about it the more that he spent time with Rika. He believed her when she said those things, too. Rika couldn’t be wrong. She and V knew more about everything then he ever did and he trusted them to know what was right. 

That consisted of most of the time, though, as V was busy traveling and working on his next big project. 

They spoke now and again on the phone but it wasn’t quite the same as being able to speak to each other in person. Rika was different from V, and as much as he cared about her, he missed the peace that came when V was home. 

When it was just him and Rika… 

It felt like the threat of danger was looming in the distance. Like his Dad was going to find and get rid of him for sure this time. He was sure that Rika was right. 

He just wished that one night, just for one night, that he would be able to breathe without thinking about what he knew to be the truth. He knew that he was doomed without these two in his life. But, why did they have to talk about it all the time? Why couldn’t they just keep living the way that they always had done? 

He may have only been eighteen, but he knew that there to be more peaceful days in sight. 

He prayed that there were. Saeran wanted to have faith in V’s words to him. That things would be okay as long as he was safe with them. But, Rika’s words to him weren’t like that. She would say that he would only be safe as long as he stayed inside this house and far away from the rest of humanity. 

There was more evil in the world than the Prime Minister; Saeran was fearful of that and what it entailed. Saeran felt like it must have been rather bad if she wouldn’t tell him the full extent of what she was so fearful of.

Rika was never asleep during the night time, she was always awake and stirring doing God knows what in the house. 

He didn’t know what she did most of the night but he knew the sounds of her footsteps against the wood floor and the sounds of somebody rummaging through the fridge. 

He didn’t often get up unless he had a nightmare, but he knew that she would be sitting the dark, drinking from a tall glass and shifting through her paperwork. 

The first few times that he had noticed her doing that, it had left him a little uncomfortable. However, V had later told him that she was just what people called a night owl. She was more aware and lively during the late-night hours. That was when she liked to collect her thoughts and piece together things she needed.

Perhaps she was spending all that time working on his lesson plans, he surmised. Rika was his teacher for everything, and it must have taken a lot to spend so much time working with him. They would sit nightly going over one subject after each other until Saeran felt like he was going to fall asleep at the kitchen table. 

She was going to a lot of trouble for him. 

So, he tried his best not to bother her amid the night. There were times when she comforted him and calmed him down from his fears. Her approach may have been different from V but it was still done from the kindness of her heart. 

He didn’t want to act ungrateful or even think ill of somebody who cared for him. 

He sat at the table that night, with his pencil firmly pressed against the paper as Rika began to speak to him once more. “And you see, that’s just another example of cruelty, Saeran. Humans never learn from the mistakes of the past, and things are destined to repeat themselves because nobody learns from what happened.”

Saeran sucked in a breath, “That’s awful.” 

Tales of bloodshed and revenge. 

War and the worst that could be found in humanity. 

It did nothing to alleviate his fears. 

“I know, I know. It’s dreadful but you must learn about even the worst of times. But, don’t you worry about a thing, Saeran. You’re safe here in this house with me. I wouldn’t let anything like that happen to you,” she smiled, ever so cheerfully as her hand brushed against the top of his head. “After all, you’re very precious to me.” 

Yes, yes, she was right. 

Saeran just had to stay safe.

It may not have been the most ideal life but it was better to be safe then it was to be dead, right? Was Saeyoung living the same way? Did he feel this weight of fear and dread every day? 

Was he hiding and trying to get by where the evil could not find him? Was he thinking about the freedom they could have had if they weren’t born as begotten children?

“Thank you,” he whispered. 

“Oh, you’re very welcome, my flower. I think of you as my son, Saeran. I wouldn’t want anything unfortunate to befall you, that’s why I’m spending so much time guiding you to the right path. I’m just pleased that you’re trying so hard to heed these lessons. Your future is right in front of you and I can’t wait to show you where you’re heading.” 

“...”

Where were they going? He thought. 

Saeran didn’t ask that. 

He knew better than to question his guardians. They always knew what was right and they would never lead him astray. That was why he cared about them so much and why they cared about him so much. He was faithful and dedicated, and they were nice and compassionate. 

Whatever the future had in store, it must have been great. He couldn’t wait to see what it held. He prayed that it withheld calm summer days where he could lay with his back on the grass as the clouds fluttered by in the breeze overhead. 

Saeran turned his head back to his homework and started to fill out the blanks in the sheet in front of him as Rika took another sip from her glass of tomato juice. She grew strangely quiet as he continued his work, her cell phone ringing and she stepped out to answer the call. It seemed important so Saeran tuned it out. 

It wasn’t his business. 

However, he would come to later regret not listening and watching more closely of the warning signs that were sitting in front of him. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

It was late one night, or was it very early in the morning?

Saeran had awoken from his sleep again, and this time, the house was deafly silent. There was not a single noise to be heard whatsoever. That wasn’t normal. There was always somebody awake no matter what or at the very least, there would be dull static of television or from the wind outside of the house. 

That made Saeran incredibly nervous. 

Why was it so quiet? Why was nobody making a sound? There was something in his body that was telling him to stay in his bed and pray for the morning to come. Something wasn’t right. He knew that Rika was going to be back to the home very late due to work, and he knew that she would likely come into the home while on the phone with V, so perhaps she wasn’t home yet? 

He glanced at the clock on the wall. 

It indicated that it was three in the morning. That was far too late for somebody to be out in the city. It seemed like something was amiss lately. Rika had been more stern with him and had stopped him from going outside. She seemed to have no patience for his want to go out during the day. He was used to her worry. 

But, this worry was tenfold. 

Her panicked hand gripped his shoulder hard and warned him of vague monsters that were lingering nearby. She warned him if he stepped into the light, then he would be hurt. She didn’t want that for him and he didn’t want to die by the hand of that man, nor any other devil that existed in the outside world. 

As sad as it made him, he stayed to her word and listened dutifully. 

That had been going for a few weeks now. V hadn’t contacted them for quite a while and that seemed to be a source of much of Rika’s worries and fears. Saeran knew better than to bring him up. It seemed rather touchy and sensitive. He still sort of feared for his guardians, he didn’t want to believe that they were fighting or at odds but it felt like they were. 

It felt like… a knife had cut through the peace that they had once had. 

Saeran walked through the house that he had called his home for years now but he felt like he was intruding on something that he shouldn’t have been. His pulse had quickened, and his ears were ringing. 

Each step that he took felt like another one into a state of disrepair; He nearly turned around and went back to his room but the curiosity was eating away at him. He wanted to know why he felt so fearful and why it was things were wrong. Against his better judgment and every fiber of his body telling him to run away, he kept walking forward until his hand rested against the back door. 

He pressed a hand to the glass and opened it. 

Saeran took one step outside and shut the door behind himself. He peered around the garden and checked to see if there was anyone outside. He did not find a soul out in the open. Perhaps his brain was playing tricks on him or something like that?

After checking what he could see in the surrounding area, he turned his back on the forest and tried to go back to the house. A hand brushed against the back of the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing and held him in place. He strained to move but it felt like whatever was holding him had far more strength than he did. 

“Saeran, what did I tell you about leaving the house?”

That voice. 

“R-Rika?” he stained, “What are you doing outside? I thought you weren’t home yet. What’s going on?” 

Saeran turned his head to see that Rika was standing behind him. 

It didn’t seem right. Rika was small and lithe. She looked like she wouldn’t have any more strength than a young child would but she was somehow restraining him. 

Her eyes, her eyes weren’t as green as they had always been, rather, tonight they were piercing red color that struck fear into his heart. Red. Why was that? Her eyes were as red as her favorite drink was, or as brightly colored as his hair, for that matter. 

Was she wearing contacts? She didn’t have vision issues or anything. 

There was something more startling than the color of her eyes, too. She smiled at him, and for the first time, her pearly whites shined in the moonlight that rained down from up above. That’s when he saw why she had never smiled at him with such a wide expression before.

Because instead of the teeth you expected to see, flat and rectangular, he noted that she had two fangs protruding from either side of her mouth. That dread that had been lingering in the back of his mind was back. It was telling him that he needed to run but his body wouldn’t listen to him. 

“Rika…?” 

Instead of responding to him, she let go of him momentarily and a laugh escaped her lips. 

The fear had eaten at him so much that he only the strength to sink to the ground. In a flash, she was standing in front of him with a worried expression on her face. She brushed her hand against his cheek. The same very way that she would often do when he was upset as a child. 

It did nothing to quell the dread. 

“Saeran,” her voice coaxed him. “Tell me, you would do anything for me if I asked you to, right? You know that I only want to protect you, right? That means you’re willing to do whatever I ask since you trust me to protect you, right? What if I told you that I have the means to make sure that nobody can hurt either of us, ever again?”

It sounds… 

Saeran doesn’t know how to react to that. 

What is she asking of him? 

What is it that she wants from him?   
  
“I don’t… I don’t understand what you’re saying,” he tries to say, but his voice is caught in his throat just as quickly as he blurts it out. “What’s happening? Why are do you look like this? What happened to you?”

“Nothing happened, dear Saeran,” she murmured. “I’ve always been this way. V just never let me show you all of me. There’s nothing to be afraid of, I promise. Something has happened… and I need you to listen to me. I’m going to do something that you ensure our safety. If you don’t listen to me, then I fear you will lose your life and I won’t be able to stop it.” 

“I don’t know… I don’t… I don’t… no… I don’t know if I want to do something bad... Where’s V? What’s happening? Why isn’t he here?” 

Rika’s expression changes. Her softness is replaced with sharp irritation. She doesn’t seem very happy with his answer and she doesn’t seem pleased that his stumbled muttering ended in the phrase that it did. 

Her grip tightened on his shoulder. 

His body goes stiff. 

As scared as he is of the energy that is coming from the person that he thought was true goodness in the world, he is more scared of the fate that awaits him if he doesn’t listen to everything that she asks of him. 

Yet, he doesn’t want to agree to whatever she’s asking of him. The tone in her voice scares him a lot and he wants to get away. He trusts Rika but she’s scaring him. It sounds like she’s got an idea in mind and doesn’t care if he agrees or not. 

“Fine, you don’t have to agree to it,” she says solemnly. “I told you… I love you. I’m the only one that truly loves you. Nobody else in this world cares for you the way that I do. You’ll come to understand that very soon. I’ll take care of you. I’ll take care of everything, Saeran. I’ll do what’s needed and you’ll thank you later for my kindness towards you.”

Saeran is trembling underneath her touch. 

Before he knows what’s happening around him there’s a burning sensation that’s coursing through his veins that feels like he’s on fire. 

It hurts, it hurts so much that he can’t even focus on anything but the pain that is overtaking every part of his core. Then, the fire starts to dwindle, only to be replaced by the feeling of intense cold, as if he fell into an icy river and his limbs and torso feel like they’re being poked with pins and needles. 

It’s then that he realizes that those fangs are poked into the flesh of his neck.   
She’s doing something to him and it’s the worst pain that he’s ever felt in his entire life. She said she was going to help him. But, this was far worse than the pain his Mom used to inflict upon him when he was trapped in the cellar. 

His body feels foreign to him and he’s grasping at Rika, begging and pleading for her to make the pain stop. Even his voice feels like it doesn’t belong to him. “I don’t… I don’t wanna die…” Saeran rasped, the pleading tone in his voice not dying down for even a moment. 

“Please! Stop! Stop it!” 

“It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!” 

“PLEASE!” 

No matter how much he tries to fight it, there’s no fighting what happening to him and by the time that Rika has let go of him, he doesn’t even register that she’s done so. His screams echo into the night of the desolate mountain until there’s nothing left but a hoarse whisper that not a soul can hear any longer. 

He slips into a state of unconsciousness where only pain lay ahead of him. 

The vicious fire and the ruthless chill that bore into his flesh and bone dug into him with its hungry maw and left no part of Saeran Choi unscathed from their fury. He would know nothing but the ache and bitter bite of the monster’s sting for the next two weeks as he lived through a cycle of torture and agony that he would never wish to repeat. 

To think that the one that he trusted the most turned against him, it was far too much to bear for one young boy who had only just passed the eighteenth anniversary of his birth by a month. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

The pain was nothing compared to the thirst that he experienced when he woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night or was it the day? The room that he was in had no light, no windows, just walls and one doorway that seemed to lead somewhere. He sat up and tried to move but he found that his body moved far too quickly. 

His head spun and he fell back down against the mattress. 

Saeran was thirsty. 

He had never felt this thirsty before. It was like he hadn’t had anything to drink in days and when he tried to swallow, it did nothing but made the burn that much stronger. He dug his nails into the skin of his throat trying to fight off that feeling but nothing, absolutely nothing he did would get that feeling to go away from him. 

He felt himself begin to breathe hard. The air that filled his lungs did nothing for him. It didn’t satisfy him and it surely didn’t make him feel like it was helping the burn. He strained, and he struggled, but no matter what he did or tried nothing helped him. He willed himself to get up and ignored the pain in his body to try and go to the door and when his hands brushed against the knob, he twisted, and it did not open. 

Saeran tried again, and again, and again. 

Then, the knob was ripped from the door in one false swoop. He looked down at his hand and then he looked at the gap in the doorframe. What was this? Was this a weak door or was he suddenly strong? That couldn't be. Saeran was always weak and sickly. He couldn't even open a jar in the house. What was this? What was happening to him? He tried to shake off those feelings as quickly as they built up as he left that dark room and headed out into the hallway. 

It didn't seem familiar to him and he didn't think that he knew this place. All he knew was that he needed to find some water and stop this thirst. He wound up finding a sink and he tried to swallow some but it did nothing but make him even more thirsty. It didn't even wet his dry throat. That was when he really started to feel like he was losing control of himself. He was trying to put together the pieces of what had happened to him before he fell asleep and where he was now but the thoughts were clouded. 

What happened to him? 

The last thing he could remember was Rika. 

She had approached him in the garden late into the night and he had tried to speak with her about something, and then... wait. 

**Saeran remembered.**

Fangs sunk deep into the skin of his throat and his body felt empty in a matter of minutes. He had heard of something like that in one of the monster books that he had found lying around in his home and he assumed that they were just that. A story for children to scare them. There was no way that there could be vampires walking amongst the living and yet, he had seen the red in Rika's irises and he had felt her teeth drill into him. He lifted his shaking hand to his throat and felt for a wound but he could find nothing but healed skin and just the smallest indentation in the skin where something had bored into him. 

Right there, on his skin. 

Proof. 

That meant that... 

Saeran gasped, once again as the realization struck him, and his body caved in on him. He fell unconscious once again. 

The second time that he awoke, this time he found himself in a darkened chamber on the ground. Rika was sitting in a chair just in front of him that vaguely reminded him of a throne. Her blond curls fanned around her body and her hand press into her cheek as if bored by watching him struggle and strain against the floor. She didn't say anything to him. Her vision just turned in the direction of the other side of the room where she smiled gleefully at somebody, "Come on, bring in the traitor, would you? He's finally awakened and I think he's mighty thirsty for a feast on the blood those who have failed me." 

Meanwhile, Saeran's body was screaming at him. That thirst had not gone away and it had somehow gotten much worse. It was the only thing that he could think about. He wasn't even thinking about the pain anymore. He just thinking about how thirsty he was and how badly he wanted to make the thirst stop. He dug his hands into the floor and breathed hard, as it was all that he could do, hissing out and groveling. 

Was this what it felt like to suffer? 

One guard came forward with a human that was struggling to fight against the tight grip the vampire held on their wrist. They were begging and pleading with both the guard and the woman in the room to let them go, and that they were sorry for what they had done. Rika merely sighed at the sight and twirled her hand around once. "If you would be so kind, dear, let the traitor go. I don't think my dear Saeran can wait any longer."

The human was shoved onto the ground in front of Saeran and the guard took a few steps back away from the newborn. Something smelled... good. Saeran's ache momentarily died as he lifted his head up and saw the terrified eyes of the man in front of him. He saw the fear and the terror in their eyes but for some reason, Saeran couldn't find himself feeling the same way. All he could think about was how thirsty he was and how good they smelled. 

So good... so damn good. 

Was this what it felt like to lose control? 

"No... please!" 

"You should be happy to serve paradise. After all, you were the one that said you were willing to do anything to please me and further my vision of paradise. I did all I could for you, and now you're going to do all you can for my dear Saeran." 

He was so thirsty... and it smelled so good. It was too strong and it too much for him to ignore. He could only think about how much he wanted his thirst to be quenched. Saeran's mind went blank as his body took control. 

Was this what it felt like to be a monster? 

Those screams would haunt Saeran for the rest of his life. 

Even after he managed to escape from the false paradise that Rika had crafted after being entrapped for over a year by sheer luck, those memories and his actions would always haunt him and plague his waking mind. He left that place as soon as he had the chance and saw the opening to run. He ran as long and as far as his legs could carry him and until his lungs burned with thirst once again. He refused to think about that place, and he refused to look behind him. It was a chapter in his life that he wanted to run away from, run as far away as he could. The acts committed to him were nothing he wanted to speak of. 

It hurt him to even think of that first night. That first night where he took his first life out of sheer necessity. It was another nightmare to add to his collection of evergrowing pains that would weigh on him for the rest of eternity. 

Saeran just kept running. 

He doesn't even know for how long and how far, but he gets as far away from that place in the mountains as he can get himself. He stares up at the moon as it falls on the horizon every night when he travels and remembers that he is damned to never see the beautiful sun that had once made him so happy ever again. 


	2. Act II

“Repent for your sins, monster.” 

“Oh, darling, I told you only to say that to me in the bedroom.” 

“I gave you a chance, remember that as you burn for all eternity. Can't say I didn’t try to help you to confess your crimes against humanity.” 

“It gets me going when I see you look so angry, Lucy. Such a devoted man, I bet you’re a devoted lover as well.”

A stake was driven into the ground next to the vampire’s head with a loud thud. It sank deep into the soil below as Luciel glowered at the monster through narrowed golden eyes. This thing, this monster, this beast of a creature was taunting him. It was the same game, every time, this vampire thought he could toy with a hunter of Luciel Choi’s caliber. 

You wouldn’t have suspected that the man pinned down against the dirt was anything but a regular human. His skin was fair, his eyes were blue, and his raven locks waved and fanned around his face in such a way that it had to be styled as such. But, if you looked closer and you saw his toothy grin, you would see his fangs. 

You would then see the hunger in his eyes. 

Those eyes… those teeth… marking of an unholy beast made on Earth despite God in heaven by the demons who turned against him. They had the power to drain life and blood from humans, and they would take it because they needed it to survive. Luciel truly detested vampires, and perhaps that was why the agency sank their idealogy into him. 

He had already been a man of God; He believed in his religion, and he believed in the power of prayers more than anything. 

And when he learned that his escape from the abusive household in which he was born and raised entailed becoming somebody to can help purge the world of monsters to protect all of humanity from these unholy horrors? 

He took it. 

He took it like a firm handshake. 

Luciel knew that there was no turning back from this lifestyle once he got involved in it but he wasn’t going to turn around when he had the promise that his brother would be safe and sound for the rest of his days. He was given V’s word, and he knew that he could take that man’s word at face value because he had never steered him wrong before. 

He trusted him. 

He knew in that back of his mind that Saeran would live his life in peace. That’s the only thing that he wanted and he would be damned otherwise if that didn’t happen. He chose this path of righteous fury to not only protect his brother but to protect the rest of humanity. 

Any man upon learning that the world is hiding real monsters who take advantage of others would take to the stake and fight against it. Luciel would spend the rest of his days toiling to the grindstone with his teacher at his side until he either died in the middle of a battle with honor or if he lived to be old enough to be let go from his commitment to the agency that fought against the undead. 

This was his cross to bear from now on. 

Some called him bloodthirsty or a tyrant for fighting the way that he did but he learned from the best of the best. His tutor was Vanderwood, and Vanderwood was somebody that you didn’t want to meet in a dark alleyway. They knew everything that you could ever wish to not find out about the undead and how to kill them. 

They did it without breaking a sweat and with a deadpan face as if they were bored without a challenge and uncaring for the creatures and the damage they called. A job was a job, and you got it done as they ordered you to do. That’s what Vanderwood had told him time and time again. 

Luciel had done just that. 

He spent nearly a decade fighting these monsters from the moment that he left his home till now, and he was nineteen years old now. Nineteen with the weight of many years well beyond his own and the despair that came from taking a life, no matter if it was undead or not. He had to live with his kills and live with what that meant for him. 

He was a force to be reckoned with. 

Yet, there was one vampire that he could never kill. It wasn’t for a lack of trying and it wasn’t that he wasn’t good enough to make it happen. Luciel would outright tell you that he had tried every way possible to kill this bastard and he was always got away. 

Every time he got close to him and every time he had his stake out and ready to make the hit—

This monster would do a handful of things. Once, he knocked Luciel down and brushed his hand against the side of his cheek, chuckling as the human lay stunned. 

His blue eyes would sparkle with something otherworldly and the redhead would find himself entranced, staring up at him as he shamelessly complimented him. The vampire could have killed him, but no if he got the chance to be on top of Luciel, he would decidedly torment him with something else. 

He would purr these little vulgarities out knowing that he was a beautiful being, and Luciel would give him credit for that. He was gorgeous but that beauty was tainted by the power of Hell. He was damned to be that damn and look that way till the end of time. 

Sometimes Luciel felt the burn of something against his skin when the vampire touched him. 

He wasn’t sure what it was. His heart would stutter against his chest and his knees would momentarily go weak before he snapped back to attention and got back into the fray. Perhaps it was the fact that a part of him craved to be wanted. 

As selfish as it was… 

He wanted love. 

If this guy hadn’t been a vampire… no, those thoughts are sacrilegious.

Nope. Nope. Nope. He wasn’t about to deal with that. That was a sin. Being with a creature like that was not okay in the eyes of the agency nor God. 

Luciel would not allow himself to become attracted to a vampire. 

This was the game that they played and he was falling for it. He couldn’t allow that. He twisted that feeling in his gut and bit his tongue to stimulate his senses, a trick Vanderwood had taught him, tapping out from under the vampire and returning to their fight. 

Other times, he would taunt and tease his abilities as a hunter. It would make Luciel angry and when he got angry… his fighting got sloppier and it was far too easy to get him caught off guard and then make a break for it to live another day. This vampire had been playing with him for years and by this point, they have their banter. 

Luciel grit his teeth as he glowered at the beast. 

He pulled his stake from the ground and lifted it again, posed to take his hit when the vampire swiftly knocked him over and they began their fight on foot. Luciel narrowed his eyes, “Don’t think you can get away from me, vampire!” 

He rolled up the sleeves of the shirt that he was wearing, which wasn’t made for combat. 

This guy dressed the way that he did when he was turned and that meant he looked like a dandy and dapper fellow who knew how to look good. His toothy smile never died, “I told you, honey, it’s Judas the dashing and handsome vampire, not _vampire_.”

Judas, ah, yes. 

That’s the name that the vampire had told him to call him years ago. Luciel didn’t want to humanize him so he never did use that name out loud when the vampire was around. 

That reveal happened when Vanderwood called over to him, saying his name, and Judas perked up. 

It was like a kid that had walked into a candy store and could have anything they wanted. His eyes sparkled with some glimmer of glee. _“Oh? Like Lucifer, like the shining morning star… you’re destined to fall to Earth, my dear, perhaps one day you’ll come to my side one of these days and realize you’re on the wrong side, but I bet you’ll love this. My name is Judas.”_

The universe was making a big joke of this, wasn’t it? 

Well, Luciel wasn’t going to let anyone get the best of him, and he refused to let a vampire beat him for as long as he’s breathing. 

He grits his teeth and went running forward towards the monster without a second thought about it; Side-swiping at him with a stake made of pure, undiluted silver, he was poised to try and make the kill here and now. Judas quickly stepped to the right, and the left every time Luciel got close.

“Stop fighting your fate,” Luciel spat. 

“Only when you stop fighting your feelings for me, darling,” Judas purred. His blue eyes shining underneath the moonlight. “I’ll go down when you go down.” 

Round and round they went on the merry-go-round of fate. His dance with the devil was never-ending. It had been years, nearly half a decade since he had first run into this monster and he couldn’t be more excited to just get this over with. There was no win for the determined hunter in sight but there was also no win in sight for the desperate vampire. 

One of these days, this monster was going to have to make a mistake. 

Judas would have to trip. 

He would have to make a mistake. 

It was only a matter of waiting it out. 

Tonight, it was Luciel that made a mistake. He went in too fast, got too riled up with the thought that he could finally get rid of this vampire, and that’s how he wound up with his arms held above his head by this lithe vampire. Judas’ cocky smirk couldn’t have been any wider than it was as he gazed up into Luciel’s golden eyes. 

“You know, you’re the only hunter that has ever excited me as much as this. You make the game that much more fun. I can’t say I’ve ever had more fun in my last hundred years than I’ve had playing your games with you, Lucy,” he murmured. “You’re the only hunter that doesn’t bore me.” 

He was toying with him. 

Luciel knew that the vampire wasn’t going to bite him. 

This idiot never bit him when he got the chance to do it, which struck him as really odd. Any other vampire would take their chance to kill one of the most fearless and merciless hunters when they got the chance. If he had been caught by any of the other beasts that wanted his head, he would have already been dead. 

Judas was different, frustratingly different. 

It didn’t change the fact that Luciel had to kill him if he got the chance. 

“Yeah, well, I want nothing more than to be rid of your nonsense,” Luciel breathed, trying his quell the fast beating of his heart. He tried to kick out but the vampire had more strength then he did by a long shot. His attacks were nothing more than a gentle kick to the leg to Judas. 

Luciel had shut his eyes on instinct to avoid being ensnared by those eyes. 

Those eyes of his were where his power lay. He had an elevated ability on top of a vampire’s natural ability to entrance and entice the people that they made eye contact with. But, he just couldn’t keep his composure when he felt Judas’ presence so close to his neck. 

He had to reverse the position that they were in. 

“You don’t have to pretend with me, Lucy,” Judas murmured. “I know you’re all talk with the rest of the world about your holy mission. But you don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not when you’re with me. I know somebody as fiery and committed as you must be fighting with honor and a promise.” 

A hand brushed against his face, and that caused Luciel’s eyes to snap wide open to meet the steely blue of Judas. “Only a truly honorable man tries to save the souls of those that are damned when he doesn’t have to do it, right?”

“My stake will be driven right into your heart, don’t play these games with me, vampire,” he warned, though there was a faint feeling of peace coursing through his veins. It was calming… so calming… it felt like he was sinking into a plush bed that was made just for him. It felt like he was on cloud nine and the problems that were on his mind were silly. 

What was he so angry about, anyway? What was it that was bothering him so much? Why did it matter? 

Why should he let himself be so caught up in any feeling that wasn’t the stupor and bliss that was now washing over him?

What was he doing… again…? 

_Something…_

Something important… right? 

“I know, I know. You don’t have to give me the story again. We’ve heard it a million times already and I’m half sure I could repeat it back to you if I so wanted to humor you, my dear. You’ll kill me one of these days,” Judas chuckled.

“Just so you know, I’m okay with that. You’re special compared to the rest of them. _You’re the only hunter that I would want to end my eternal life_.”

His daze left him nearly incapable of understanding much of what was being said to him but what he did know was that the blurry figure of a brown-haired person was coming from the distance and it was moving incredibly fast. 

That seemed familiar for some reason. 

What was so important about a person that looked like that? Was it something about their face or something about their job? 

It took his attention away from the ease and comfort he felt and then he saw it—

There was a stake ripping through the air juxtaposed to strike at the vampire at just the right angle to rip into its heart. It took a moment to register but by the time that it did, Luciel had only mere seconds to act, biting down on his tongue to bring reality back—

He kicked at the vampire and ripped its hand out of his grasp, only to grab the pointed weapon mere inches away from Judas’ back. 

Nobody moved. 

Nobody stirred. 

Nobody even breathed. 

Judas stared into Luciel’s golden eyes, once again, but this time there was no playful banter or smile on his face. He was sincerely shocked and scared. He looked like he wanted to say something but he immediately jumped away from Luciel and took off running as fast as he could, disappearing into the night just as quickly as he had appeared. 

Instead of being killed, he had been… saved…? 

Even Luciel didn’t understand what he had just done until Vanderwood had come over to him and scolded him for being such a dumbass. 

With a firm hand to the shoulder, Vanderwood looked at him, pissed, “What the fuck was that, Luciel? Why the hell did you get in the way of the kill? I could have finally killed that beast and had less of these old vampires to worry about!”

Luciel’s shoulders tightened, gripping tightly to the weapon that he had caught so hard that his fingers felt numb. He looked back at Vanderwood with a darkened gaze overtaking his golden eyes as it filled with something that couldn’t quite be expressed in mere words.

“ **That’s my kill, Vanderwood** . **Don't even think about getting in my way. I’m the only one that gets that one**.”

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

Time passes faster then you realize when you’re working yourself. 

It quickly turned into weeks and months after that incident, and Luciel had seen nothing of that vampire that had long plagued him since that night. He turned back to his work and went back to the cycle, with Vanderwood keeping a watchful eye on him so he didn’t fuck up anymore. That seemed to be their concern. 

Well, their reputation was on the line. 

That could surely explain that. 

“Get off your ass.”

“Vandy, I’m in the middle of something, can’t it wait another five minutes?”

“You may spend your free time glued to your computer but that doesn’t mean it can get in the way of your job. If you don’t get out there and take care of things then the boss is going to wring my neck and I’m not going to go out on another limb for you, kid.”

“...Alright. Just let me restock.” 

There were a lot of benefits that came from working with the best of the best. 

There was also a lot of downside to it because if Luciel allowed himself to be even a little bit off task, he’d get a taser to the back of the head. Vanderwood was very no-nonsense and while Luciel knew that he had a very very thin line between messing with him and being straightforward, he liked to push buttons.

The only time that he got a sense of normalcy was when he spoke to the RFA. It felt like one big and weird family when they congregated, and even though he was often busy most of the time, he still found moments to come online and chat with everybody. 

It was a place where he could engage in his interests that existed apart from his job. He was able to just be some kooky programmer that everybody assumed was eccentric and full of ideas. They weren’t wrong about that but they didn’t have the full story; Nevertheless, the moments that he had to tease Yoosung or bother Jumin, for example, made him feel like he belonged to something. 

They may not have known the true him, but he didn’t care about that. 

The RFA allowed him a chance to just be a somewhat normal guy, and he didn’t waste those chances when they popped up. He was committed to his job and he would always put that front since it was his most important promise but hey, nobody said that he couldn’t spend his breaks playing around with his friends. 

He logged out of the chatroom after giving them one of his famous sendoffs. 

His phone was stashed into his pocket, and he hopped to his feet to go and run through what he needed to replenish what he had run out of in his car. Luciel tended to make sure that he had more than enough of what he needed, better safe than sorry, as it mattered not if it was a big mission or a smaller mission. 

You never knew what you were going to run into. 

Vampires could be dirty tricksters when they wanted to be. You had to play their game and lead them into a false state of superiority over humans. 

There had been countless times where he had to dress up and trick one of those monsters to come with him to a darker area, and although he didn’t mind the first part, it disgusted him that he was even falsely offering his blood up to these _things_. 

It made it all more satisfying to rid the world of them, though. It was a small thing to do because if he hadn’t been the one to take the monster away, then he would be damning somebody else to becoming a victim. The cases that he and his partner were always chasing after were some of the worst that you could come across. 

Some vampires didn’t drink people dry and while those weren’t the worst, they were child’s play stacked up against the ones that reveled in destroying and stealing human energy and life like it was candy. They would leave behind bloody scenes that one would never want to see in their life, and those monsters were the ones that needed to go down fast. 

If they were allowed to keep roaming such populated areas without something keeping them in check, then it was likely that ordinary humans would take notice. 

That could never happen.

When the day came… no, _if_ the day came that humans learned about the existence of something that was watching and waiting in the shadows for somebody to step too close to them? 

Then, it would spark a sea of pandemonium and a pandemic that would cause people to not trust a soul, nor would they leave their houses once the sun went down on the horizon and the moon came up.

The markets would crumble down. the social order would decline, and you name it, the doomsday scenario would become more and more likely if people knew that there was more to fear then the stranger down the street. 

They couldn’t allow that to happen. 

The agency was dedicated to eradicating vampires no matter the cost that it came to those that were employed by them. However, they weren’t just getting rid of the vampires. They had to stage crime scenes, they had to cover up the real deaths and wipe databases as well as override cameras and online articles if somebody knew too much. 

It was rather shady, but it was required. 

Their motto was: Purge the damned and protect the innocent. 

Luciel took that to heart. 

After he had run through his mental and neverending checklist and ensured that everything was for the next run, he received his marking orders from Vanderwood was waiting for him in the garage of his bunker with a look of disdain.

He caught sight of his reflection in the window of his car and turned his attention away from it almost immediately. The garish red hair… his golden irises… the small ring of purple underneath his eyes. All things that by all regards, were not something he wanted to see. 

When he saw himself, he would be reminded of his mirror image. His mind would wander to the one that he left behind to protect from evil. It was enough to make him lose his nonsense smile and narrow his gaze. There was no time to joke when monsters were lurking out there, just waiting to attack people who didn’t deserve it. 

Luciel would be damned if any of them ever got close to his brother. 

Vanderwood placed the document into his hand, “Look it over. I’m not going to repeat myself when we’re out in the field.” 

His eyes flickered back and forth as he read over the notes. 

It appeared as though that another vampire had taken hold in a city. There had been a handful of murders that had people scratching heads, it was quickly covered over, but one couldn’t gloss the fact that the targets were typically young women going about their life at night. 

They would be seen speaking to the victims and then, nothing. Nothing until the bodies were found. 

_If the_ bodies were found, that is. 

The ones that had been located were shamelessly dumped and mangled. Not even a seasoned crime scene photographer would have the stomach to witness what Luciel saw. Some of them could have hardly been considered what one was thought to be human anymore. It was sickening to see and so many of these monsters had no regard for respect.

The few that at least just drained somebody of their blood were horrid enough. But those that used their strength and abilities to utterly decimate those who were vulnerable and too weak to stop them from committing the act?

 _Disgusting_. 

Those were the ones that made Luciel’s blood boil. His knuckles turned white as his grip tightened and he looked back up at Vanderwood. “How are we handling this one, then? Are we working together or apart?” he asked. “I’m ready to go.”

All business now, and nothing more. 

“It’s a big area, bigger than we’ve dealt with in a while,” Vanderwood said, simply.“We’ll have to split up if we want to catch the bastard before the sun rises. You’ll take this half of the map and I’ll take the other half of it. It’s been seen in this area, and this one other here.”

They were quick to point out spots on their maps app, which was connected to share their location at all times to each other. 

“Understood,” Luciel said. 

A mission was a mission. 

And a righteous man would do whatever it took to protect the innocent from meeting a terrible fate, no matter what. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

It was late in the night when Luciel thought that he had finally caught the trail of the beast. 

They had been staking out different areas of the city to see where they might find the ideal spot where they might strike next. It wasn’t hard to wager a guess where they might be. They were dreadful about waiting around human clubs and parks where there would be more chance to find a woman on their own just for the taking. 

Vanderwood and Luciel would take turns rotating the locations until they had enough evidence that they were working with the right target in mind. If they couldn’t catch the beast in the act then Luciel would have to be the one to lead him out into the open. The agency only gave them a few days to clean things up, otherwise, heads would roll.

Heads that didn’t belong to vampires, that is. 

As it turned out, it appeared that they had finally secured the right man after carefully monitoring them for the last day and a half. Vanderwood checked their records and confirmed it for sure. They were on the right trail. 

And they didn’t have a second to waste. Vampires like that didn’t wait until the last minute to make their meals. They made as many as they could until they were momentarily satisfied just enough to make it to the next area that was filled to the brim with victims. 

Luciel knew what he had to do. 

He spent the afternoon working on his appearance until he was satisfied with what he had.

He had gotten rather good at dolling himself up, and he wouldn’t deny that he liked the nice feeling it gave him when he wasn’t doing it for work. Luciel liked looking good. That’s why he could be found dressing up and playing parts even when he wasn’t in the middle of a struggle of good and evil.

If he hadn’t had to work, he might have liked to go have some fun. 

Duty came first. 

He made sure that his wig was firmly placed on his head before doing a final once over. After he was sure that things were right, he set out into the night. The best path to take was through the park as this time of night would make it perfect for nobody to be spotted. He just had to lead the vampire to follow after him. 

Luciel was far too good at this. 

He casually walked past the vampire with a phone pressed to his ear, commenting rather loudly so that he would hear it. “Oh, of course. I’ll be seeing you in a few days. I’m going to take the long way home tonight, kay~ It’s the perfect time to spot the moon, and who knows? Maybe I’ll have a chance encounter with somebody handsome and he’ll like, make my night?”

The bait was far too tantalizing for him to ignore.

Luciel knew that far too well. 

The sounds of the faintest footsteps behind him were just loud enough for him to know that things were going his way. 

He made no point of breaking his act, he had to get this vampire to where no one was around. It was quicker to dispose of them that way. He didn’t have to worry about covering things up or informing Vanderwood of what they would need to do. 

Luciel took a turn into the dark area and walked down the path where he knew that no one was on just for certainty. It wasn’t until he purposefully reached an area that had no sign of life but the two of them, and he saw the shadow of the monster appear from behind him.

“You should be more careful walking the streets at night. There’s a lot of shady people just waiting to snatch up people.” 

Luciel turned around to look at the devil. 

There he was, the red-stained eyes of a thirsty monster on the prowl. This was just another monster of the night, no longer a human and only a monster that wanted destruction. This one was just another page in the fodder that was becoming the body list that Luciel had racked up. His hand was on the stake that rested in his pocket as the monster began to walk forwards. 

“...Excuse me?” Luciel asked. 

The beast seemed to enjoy playing a game with his victims, “Oh, don’t you worry, miss. You’re lucky that I saw you when I did. If somebody else had seen a young girl wandering about without an escort? Why I’d hate to imagine what they may do to somebody like you.” 

“I appreciate the concern, but I can handle myself, sir,” Luciel commented. He didn’t move his hand from the spot where his weapon was hidden, for an extra point, he made sure that his voice cracked and stuttered a bit. 

“No, no. I’d feel terrible if I didn’t take care of you,” the monster was now close enough that Luciel could see those haunting eyes up close. “So, what do you say? I know just the thing that may make you feel at peace.”

Luciel pursed his lips, but the fear in his eyes was always somewhat real when these monsters got too close to him. “No thank you.”

There was a hand on his free wrist, and when Luciel gave a tug to it, the beast showed his true powers by not budging at all. That was it. If the red eyes hadn’t shown it to be a fact, then this would be all the proof that they needed. The vampire laughed as it seemed that he had finally caught himself another victim to add to his list of tasty snacks and prey. “I bet you’re tasty, you’ve got a real scent to you,” the vampire chuckled. 

"You'd be sorely mistaken," the redhead warned. 

That's when the vampire realized his fatal mistake.

The glint of silver was strong and the beast let out an ungodly hiss as he shoved Luciel back. His back made an impact with the ground but he quickly rolled over and sprang back onto his feet. They began their battle of swipes and claws. He would make a move to stab but the vampire would claw at him and nearly leave thick gashes on his arms, and it wasn't looking good fast. He pushed the hunter to the edge and if neither one of them went in for the kill this was going to end in gore. This beast was hungry, and when they were hungry to get their fill of blood, they got much stronger to complete their task. 

He had only seen this happen a few times, but Vanderwood had been at his side when that happened. Luciel tried to catch his breath, holding the arm that had been injured and glaring down the beast. 

It sneered at him, "Little hunter, you're the one that mistaken." 

Luciel went to pull the stake from his coat pocket but when he went to grab the device, there was a sudden flash of blinding light. 

“...!” 

The light that could have only come from a device that had been set to stun and flash. It went off and on without warning and Luciel had to shut his eyes to protect them from the ultra-strong sensor. The high-range light clicked off after it shuttered repeatedly, blinding the vampire and incapacitating them as he cried out in pain. 

“GAH!” 

This was it! 

This was the opening!

The redhead couldn’t waste the chance no matter how in shock he was that somebody had come to aid him out of the blue, he went in for the kill and in a moment’s notice, the vampire fell to the ground hard, sputtering and coughing as the unnatural hue to their eyes died out. 

**Dead, finally dead and gone from this life.**

It took a moment for Luciel’s eyes to readjust to the darkness. He stashed his weapon back into the pocket and furiously rubbed at his eyes until clarity returned. 

When he looked around, he found a woman with medium-length dirty blonde hair looking at him with unsure and uncertain eyes. She stood taller than he was by a bit, possibly an inch or two, and those eyes of hers were a shimmering gold. 

She was dressed like she had gone out for a nightly run but in her hands with the strong light that had taken down the vampire. Luciel didn’t recognize her and he had a good memory when it came to other agents in his group. 

“So, you’re a hunter, huh?” she commented, though her tone was a bit somber at the mention of the career field. “That was a clean hit. I was worried I was going to have to fight for a second there. But if this one was dead set on killing you, then I was going to have no choice.” 

Luciel raised a brow. Her tone seemed sad at that mention of fighting. If she wasn’t an official hunter that they had track of in their database, or if she was just somebody that had gotten involved in life at some point, he wasn't sure, but it was as if something had happened and changed her opinion. Which was odd. 

Either way, he felt grateful for the backup.

He hadn’t come into contact with many if any people that knew about vampires when they shouldn’t know anything. The agency and most anyone who knew had made sure that the information never spread. Luciel was supposed to let Vanderwood know when something like this happened to him but he stopped himself before he went to grab his phone. Rather, he approached the girl and smiled warmly. 

“Thanks for that,” he said, sincerely. “I was going to take care of that myself but you saved me some trouble, miss.”

"It's no problem. Even if you are a hunter, you should really be more careful. The ones with red eyes are the ones that you don't trifle with unless you've got a team with you. Even a seasoned guy can get really hurt if they make one mistake. Not that you would make one, you seem pretty capable," the girl babbled for a moment, and then her vision fell on the fallen figure of the vampire that would need to be disposed of. "Not all vampires are evil like this one... but... I understand why you would want to get rid of them before they hurt anyone, the ones like this, in particular, can really make some havoc." 

"I'm aware. I just didn't know how rabid this one would be," he said.

The girl's warm smile was a nice sight to behold after he had just been cornered by one of those things. She seemed to be looking him over for some reason. "That's alright, hunter, now you know for the next time, right?"

It didn't hit him until that moment that he had really been injured. He knew it wasn't going to be pretty but it might have been worse then he thought. He looked down to see how bad it was and when he touched it, it burned. Pain pulsated through his body. He hissed, clutching at his arm again where the blood was leaking through the fabric of the sweater he was wearing. This wasn't going to be easy to patch up. 

She began to walk towards him but her voice started to sound more and more underwater to him. His vision went dark from the shock and he wound up passing out after his adrenaline had run its course. "Hey, hey... oh, you're really hurt, that guy did a number on your arm!" she said, worried. "You shouldn't push yourself after that... after... and that... hey, it's... not looking good... do you... and that... hold on...!" 

It wouldn't be until he woke up the next morning with his wound stitched up and cleaned that he realized that the girl had rescued him. He had tried to rush up in bed but her arm came down against his shoulder and pushed him back against the bed. She told him he wasn't going anywhere until that was better, and he had no choice but to calm down and try to rest. Her concerned eyes never lost that spark within them, and he found himself falling deeper... and deeper into those pools of gold. 

One thing was for certain, his path would not be the same after meeting this woman. 


	3. Act III

Saeran hated what he had become with every fiber of his being that no words could be used to describe the indisputable pain that he was experiencing.

He was changed into something against his will and even though he had escaped that wretched woman and run away from Rika, he still wasn't free from the wounds they inflicted on him. Even in freedom, shackles still dug into the flesh on his ankles and held him down. 

He was doomed to living like a monster for the rest of his unnatural life and he hated himself. He who sucked the life from others like a leech to survive. He truly was a bug, and they had been right. Perhaps that thinking was why he found himself sitting on the ledge of a bridge in the middle of the night. 

His feet kicked over the edge and eyes staring down at the water below. It was raging and rushing along jagged rocks that would likely kill or mane a human at the very least if they took a stumble or hopped over the edge. 

Would it be enough to destroy him? He wondered. 

Nothing had worked thus far and he doubted this would do it. All he could think about was freeing himself from the chains thrust upon him. He thought he would be free in death, but as a Vampire, he was no more free then he had been as a breathing human. 

He dug his nails into the palm of his hand as firmly as he could. It would bring no blood and even if he hurt himself out would heal in a matter of seconds. He would never again feel the pain that many mortals did and while that may have felt like a dream after years of feeling the worst pain one could ever feel; It was turning into a miserable reality. 

He knew no pain but he knew what it felt like to be denied the very things he always wanted. This was the curse of eternal life. 

What he longed for and loved was taken from him.

The ability to choose what he wanted to do with his life and have nobody stopping him from what he wanted to do. That’s what he had longed for and now he had to live this damned life without a choice. Never again would he see the sun or feel its rays against his skin… at least, not in the way that he wanted.

The Savior… no, Rika, had forced him to feel the sunshine in this damned body and it hurt more than anything he had ever experienced. Even the memory of the pain he had suffered for a year at her hand brought shivers down his spine as well as the memory of the pain on his flesh. He would be damned if he allowed himself to think about it. 

Whips… chains… locks… ropes… they were nothing compared to the burn of the sun. 

Saeran felt ill just trying to ward those thoughts away. 

He had spent the last few months trying to fight his urges and get rid of himself when the weight of his actions took over his body; And, he felt the guilt of taking lives and drinking the blood from innocent people who didn't deserve a leech such as him draining from their life. 

Nothing that he ever did to himself worked, unfortunately, and no matter how much he clawed at himself or prayed this undead suffering would go and come to an end, it never did. His body always healed itself when wounds appeared. 

It was just like the universe was playing a cruel and sick joke on him. That was all Saeran Choi was. A big fat joke for the cosmos to laugh at and play with. 

Nothing more and nothing less. 

He felt like a monster and he was a real monster, just as people had always told him that he would turn out to be. As Saeran stared down at the water below his feet, he really prayed that this suffering would come to an end. 

He stood up and took a breath that his lungs did not need. 

Then, he started to count down from ten in the back of his head and just as he reached the number seven, a voice rang out in his ears- 

“I guess somebody beat me here.”

“...?” 

He turned his head and the breeze picked up, giving him a view of a girl in a white dress and a barely thick enough jean jacket over her shoulders. The wind blew her hair from her face and revealed somber brown eyes that he suddenly felt the weight off as soon as he saw them. The faint rings of red around her eyes were from crying.

He knew that all too well. 

His hand rested against the rail, “You too, then?” Saeran inquired, quietly. 

She didn't move but her eyes never lost that sad sheen to them. This was strange and new to him. She saw him but she wasn't running away from him like every other person that had seen him thus far had done. Had she not seen the reds of his eyes? The thirst he was fighting? 

“I suppose so,” she admitted. 

Her blood was likely very sweet. He could sense that much. The energy that surrounded her felt like it might have been as warm as the sun but he didn’t know for certain. This tiny girl in front of him couldn't have been any taller than just tall enough to meet his shoulder at the tip of her head, and yet, he was more fearful of her then she was of him at that moment. 

It wasn't her he feared, it was his bloodlust. 

He had taken to surviving on animals when he could do so, and while that blood did help him feel like he could go on, it was never anything compared to the energy that he gained from humans. He could control himself from the short supply but the thirst in the back of his throat left him begging for more no matter how hard he protested. 

He wouldn’t go into a frenzy now. 

It grew quiet. 

The sounds of her footsteps rang in his eyes when he looked back down at the water below them. 

She sat down on the other side of the poll next to him and looked to where he was looking. It was just the two of them, seemingly contemplating the same act. He knew why he felt everything was hopeless but now he was struck with the question of why somebody like this girl would think this way. 

She kept her gaze trained on the ground and water, “I've been coming here a lot lately at night. I haven't seen you before.”

“...I'm not from here,” Saeran replied. 

“Well, you picked a beautiful spot for what it's worth, stranger,” she continued. “You can't see it right now but the riverbed is covered in Tiger Lily. They're in bloom right now, and they've never been more lovely. As often as I come here I felt like there should have been something worth looking at while I think about everything.”

Saeran looked more closely at the grass. His vision was made for the night and nothing could escape that. This was the day time for beings such as himself and likewise, he had the power to see more than she could ever see. 

He could see the flowers she spoke of below them and she was right.  _ They were beautiful.  _

They were living next to this raging body of water with sharp rocks and rough seas. It was strange how flowers could bloom in spots where they didn't seem likely. They weren’t very common to this very particular spot but their orange tint breathed life into the area of green grass and grey rocks. 

“I planted them,” the girl said as if answering his thoughts for him. “They’re said to bring positivity when used in the right circumstances, you know. I figured if I felt horrible enough to come here, I may stop myself from doing something if I saw life instead of death. I don’t always feel like I can keep going but if the flowers can thrive in areas like that… I don’t know. Maybe all this suffering can exist alongside something beautiful. There’s no reason for pain to exist but it does… but there are so many good things that are alive at the same time. If a flower can persist through the onslot of what appears to be a bad area then why couldn’t those who feel the same way not go on?” 

This woman was clearly miserable. 

Yet, she was trying to find some good reason to push off her intent to see if there was any happiness to be had. Saeran found himself looking at her now instead of the forty-foot drop. She felt his gaze on her form so she turned her head to "over at him with a weak smile. 

“I realize that sounds kind of silly,” she mumbled. “It’s like when you tell people that your only friends are the flowers in your garden.”

He shook his head, “I don’t think it’s silly… to be honest with you, I used to do something similar when I was a child.” 

There was suddenly a spark of life in those brown eyes as she gazed upon him. That false smile changed ever so slightly into a little genuine one. “Would it be odd of me to ask if you would rather talk tonight instead of jumping?”

Saeran found himself telling her that, “Not at all.” 

They would continue to meet nightly for several days after that night. Saeran would find himself listen to everything that she had to say about her life and about her struggles. 

She was the youngest child of two and everybody expected her to live up to the height that her older sibling had met. She fought to be better than anyone else in the world but she always failed in the eyes of her parents. 

She never felt like she was good enough. 

Yet, he couldn’t see the failure that she continued to say she saw when she looked into the mirror. This girl went beyond what was expected for her by others. Meaning she did everything and more then what her family did. 

She worked most of the shifts at her family’s shop and she would always make a point of slipping stickers and a flower or two to a child when they came into the room. She even went as far as to always do the needed chores and never let anyone else take care of them. 

Her days were busy and her nights were busy. She seemingly never had any rest but she was always trying to outdo the day before the last. 

Saeran saw himself in her struggles. The long days that never had an end in sight and the time that went into trying to be a better person for somebody would never be fully satisfied with anything you did. That was the life that he had been leading for such a long time. He knew what it felt like to be suffocating. 

Perhaps that was why it was so easy for him to speak with her about his own fears. 

Of course, he would never admit the full story, and he omitted a lot of information to protect himself from the truth. But, it was the first time in years that he had been able to speak to anyone about what was bothering him. How much trepidation he felt about his caretakers, how he missed his brother and also felt like he hated him, and how he felt like he was a waste of space. 

How he had no choice but to listen to the woman that was supposed to protect him from danger and neglect… how she warped his memory until he felt like he was going to go numb… how he ran away the first chance he got and the instance he realized that he needed to get out if he wanted to feel like he was in control of his actions and choices. 

It went a little something like that. 

She never spoke over him and she always heard him out until the very last word came out.

It felt like he was letting go of a weight that he didn’t even realize he had been holding in as he spoke about his pain and turmoil. He had thought that he had no choice but to end himself to make the pain stop, but it turned out that the pain could also be released just by talking about it. 

Don’t get him wrong, it still hurt him. It just felt like he wasn’t balling it up to deal with on his own anymore. It was just that when he was with Lila… he felt like he was human again. He felt like what had been taken from him didn’t matter. She breathed life back into him and he desperately wanted her to believe that her life had meaning. 

If he could do anything, he would want to stay close to her until her life played out. If the universe was giving him a chance to do something good, he would take it. If his undead life meant anything at all he would use it to ensure that her smile would exist as long as it possibly could ever grace the Earth with its presence. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

Weeks would pass by without either of them noticing it. Day in and day out… Saeran would spend every evening that he could with Lila. She gave him something to do, and he provided her with the company that she had always wished to have at her side in the lonely garden of her life. 

Much of the time he simply offered to help complete her work, and she graciously accepted. He may not have been able to lighten her stress but he could do something to make her feel like she wasn’t alone. 

At first, that meant that helped her piece together flowers for bouquets. Other times, she’d be nice enough to relent and let him help her take care of thorns and bramble. He didn’t want her to get cut, partially because he wasn’t sure if he could handle her blood, but partly because she had very delicate hands. 

He often let his mind wander to the chance if he would have met her before what happened to him had taken away his power to exist as a mortal.

Would he have been able to enjoy days in the sun with her? Would she have smiled at him from afar underneath a shady tree as his hands rested in a bit of dirt, tending to flowers? Would she have been content if he made her tea to enjoy? Would she have wanted to hold his hand and disappear into the ever expansion flora and fauna? 

Most of all, would she want to be around him? 

Sometimes he feared that he was using the allure and charm that vampires had to make her like him so much but he wasn’t consciously trying to do that. He always avoided her eyes and tried to keep his distance even though he desperately wanted to hold her hand. So, it couldn’t have been that that was making her want to be around him.

Lila genuinely seemed to like him. 

He really couldn’t wrap his head around that one. What was that feeling and how did he ever begin to understand what that felt like? Everyone else on this planet seemed to know what they were doing and how to handle these feelings and Saeran didn't have a clue. Nobody had ever liked him. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle that feeling. It was buzzing and made his head feel faint. His knees felt wobbly and he felt tonguetied. Saeran didn’t have a word for the feeling that he had but he was greedy for it, and he wished to feel more of it. 

Of her eyes on him… of her smile towards him… that kindness that she shared with him. He wanted to feel all of it and more. Perhaps that was after being around her for such a long time, he felt like he really needed to be honest with her about what he was feeling. He had never been a selfish man but God, her smile made him feel so at peace. Was this what they meant when they said that there was somebody in the world that existed just for you?  He wanted to know if she felt the same way. 

Now, Saeran didn't really think that she would care for him in the same way that he had come to care for her in the last couple of weeks but that didn't mean that he couldn't tell her how he felt and how much she mattered to him. 

“Lila,” he found himself saying very late one night as the moon began to set. “I want to meet you in at the garden’s center tomorrow evening.”

She looked up from the book that she was reading at the time, the two of them had just been enjoying each other’s company. Neither of them had really said anything. Saeran had been laid back against the grass and she was catching up on something she hadn’t been able to finish for weeks. They were both holding onto the other’s hand. 

She gave him a squeeze. 

“Do you know the way on your own?” she teased, playfully. “I don’t think I’ve taken you there before, Saeran. What if I’m waiting all evening and you don’t show up because you got lost in the patch of the forest of ivy patches?” 

“I promise I won’t fall into a pit of ivy,” his tone was deadpan. “I’m not as clumsy as you are. I had to pull you out of a briar brush the other day, you know? That’s much more dangerous than a bit of poison ivy.”

“Well, as long as you promise not to make trouble or bring up that story again to anyone if they ask you for a story about my great escapades. I guess it’s a date,” Lila smiled. “I hope to see you by the fountain before dawn.”

Saeran didn’t look in her direction because he didn’t think he could handle seeing what her face looked like underneath the moon’s glow. 

“A date, huh?”

Little did Saeran know that this may be the last time that he sees Lila. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

It was late into the evening when Lila found herself lost deep in the winding path of the expansion gardens. 

It wasn’t that she was lost, per se, it was that she waded so deep into the brush and bramble and didn’t look over her shoulder with the intention of going back early. She knew this area by heart and no map was required to carry her to the heart of the area. 

Her heart was in a flurry. 

Beating in a hurried tap, tap, tap as she thought of him. 

She might have even said that she was excited at the prospect of the night ahead. 

Even since she had started spending all of her evenings out speaking to Saeran, it felt like she was simply rejuvenated and ready to keep on living. Where the world had once felt dull and lifeless, it now felt as though there were a reason and a purpose for it. 

The pain and struggle had an end in sight. At least, that’s what she would say if somebody inquired of her opinion. 

Every moment that she spent with Saeran, she felt the weight of the world fall from her body. In a lifetime that had been nothing but frustration and a fight to feel deserving of the love that should have been given from the start, she felt as though she had finally found a source of compassion. 

That wasn’t required to be given to her the kind that was rarely given by family. Someone who cared for her of their own free will and didn’t make her feel guilty for it. No, when she saw his smile, it felt like fireworks set off in her quaking heart. 

When her hand brushed against his…

Nothing mattered except the two of them. 

Lila almost couldn’t stop the gentle laugh from escaping her lips as she thought of how he spoke when he said that he wanted to see her tonight. How important it was that they speak about something. He had never been so prudent or so focused. He was always quiet and thoughtful when they were together that the spark in his eyes made her feel strange. 

When he looked into her eyes… he spoke with intention. There was something that he wanted to say but he wanted to do it in the right place and at the right time. His voice still left tingles down her spine; If it hadn’t been the hour coming close to sunrise, he might have said what he wanted to say without warning. 

He just always seemed to be busy during the day time doing all kinds of things.

Lila couldn’t help but wonder what he did during the day. She would sleep for a bit and then catch up on all of her work that needed to be done. But what did he do? Why was he always working so hard and then seemingly not tired for a moment when she was with him during the night? 

Saeran only said that it was something where he could be holed up inside all day. That just sounded a lot like offices, she assumed often. That could be a place where you felt like there was nothing but the stark white walls around you. A sea of nothing but endless work and no fun to be had in the long run when work was crucial. 

That’s why she was more than happy to spend the night with him underneath the moonlight where there were no walls, no ceilings, just space overhead alongside the moon, stars, and the ever expansive universe. 

Whatever he was dealing with seemed to go away when he was outside. There had to be countless worries on his mind yet a flower could bring a smile to his face. His eyes would light up when she showed him flowers that he had not seen in person. 

For somebody who had been unable to go outside a lot as a kid… he filled his imagination with as much information as he could gather about the world. She thought that she knew a lot about the world but he had answers before she could even rake her brain to remember if she knew the answer to a question, and she would always wind up pouting. 

Saeran was a brillant person. 

It was such a shame and horrible to think that nobody saw the worth in him when he had so much to offer to others. Lila saw in his eyes the spark of compassion. He may have looked a little rough around the edges but one should never judge a book by their cover. After all, what kind of person would she be if she thought differently of somebody for favoring leather over ribbons? 

He may have looked dark and gloomy but he was every much as bright as she appeared to be to others on a good day. He may have instinctively assumed the opposite when he saw her in the light. With her petticoats and childish bows, nobody might have ever thought that somebody like her was as depressed as she was. 

Perhaps that’s why they blended so well together. 

They weren’t what people thought of them and the empathy that existed over mistranslations was stronger in numbers. 

“...” 

Lila found herself at the center of the garden after fifteen minutes of the endless path. She took a long way around instead of the shortcut. She wanted to give Saeran time to show up if he wanted to be the first to arrive, but if he wasn’t there before she was, she would still be happy nonetheless. 

She stepped out from the maze and felt her feet brush against the cobblestone and took a look around to see if anyone was around. 

Darn. 

There was no one that she could see, which meant that she had beaten Saeran to here tonight. That wasn’t such a bad thing. It gave her time to think over what he may want to speak about and if it may have been what she thought it was. 

She walked forward until she was out of the cover the brush and out in the open. This area had been paved over just a smidge to cover enough area for a fountain to be dead center as the rest of the garden was far more natural with man-made pathways that didn’t intrude too much into the natural order of things. 

This was the last place that she had yet to show him so it was possible that may have lost his way even with the directions that she had told him with a smile. Well, he would figure it out sooner or later if she waited long enough. After all, she had no place to be tonight but here. She could wait until the sun rose if it meant that she could see him again. 

Lila smiled. Her day just didn’t feel right she couldn’t at least speak to him once. These past few weeks had been the happiest in her life. She decided that she would settle into waiting for him. She took a seat on the edge of the fountain and looked up at the stars and waited for the time to pass. 

She didn’t know how long she had been waiting after some time had passed but what she did know was that it was far later then it had ever been for him to arrive. He would always show up before this hour, she thought with a worried grimace. 

What was the hold-up? 

Where could he be? 

Was he making her wait this long on purpose? No, that didn’t seem like something that Saeran would do. He wasn’t that kind of a jokester, at least, she was pretty sure that he wasn’t. She pursed her lips and glanced around once more to see if he was coming.

This time, her gaze rested on a shadowed figure that stood in the darkness. The moon was covered by the clouds and it was too dark to make out any features that showed their identity. 

Lila stood up and narrowed her eyes to see if she could make out the form but nope, she couldn’t tell who it was from her vantage point. It didn’t seem like it was Saeran. He would always say that it was him when he arrived and whoever this was just standing and watching her from far.

Something in the air didn’t feel right, and her body was screaming at her to run. “Saeran?” she asked, hesitantly. 

The lone figure did not budge, “Is there anything more like a fairytale than a maiden waiting for her prince to arrive for a chance encounter late at night? I would say there’s nothing more lovely than that to a girl with nothing but daydreams in her heart. The longing gaze in your eyes tells me you know the pleasure of what it feels like to be sought out by another person with love in their hearts.  _ Isn’t that just lovely _ ?” 

That voice was feminine. She didn’t know that voice, either. People weren’t supposed to be on the grounds this late at night. That meant that this person had intentions that could have been anything from bad to good. Lila took a step back without even thinking about it, “Excuse me, miss? You aren’t supposed to be here.” 

“Oh? But, you aren’t supposed to be here, either, dear,” the figure stepped out of the darkness at just the right moment for the moon to come out from the clouds. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you should never be alone this late at night without someone to accompany you? Don’t you know what kind of monsters are waiting for pretty girls like you?” 

What was this woman getting at? Monsters? That was something that you would tell a child to scare them for fun. 

Well, she wasn’t a child and she had spent more time out in the woods than anyone else to be scared of a few wild animals. This was her family’s land and she had every right to be on it whereas this stranger didn’t have the blessing to be there. 

Nobody was going to tell her that she couldn’t be where she had the right to do as she pleased. This woman, on the other hand, did not belong here. Lila’s gut was telling her that this woman was no good.

“I’m not alone,” Lila said, quickly. “My… my friend isn’t far away. He was coming to meet me tonight, not that it’s any of your business.”

Her hair was a golden yellow. She looked like she had been kissed by the sun with those perfect locks that curled around her face. She was wearing a simple black dress and heels that gave her the aura of power. 

Her lips were curled into what you could call a smile, “Hahaha… oh, you must be mistaken about that one. Any business that involves my dear Saeran will always involve me, little one. I know you’re the one that has been filling his head with nonsense lately.” 

This woman knew Saeran?

Saeran had said that he didn’t know anyone in this area and the people that he walked away from were miles and miles away from this place. How could somebody know him? He didn’t want to be known by a lot of people. 

Unless… unless they had been following him to see where he went. That was the only explanation that made sense. 

Her stomach twisted in knots at that realization as soon as it struck her head. He had said that he had run away to get far from his caretaker as she had done a lot of ill things to him in the past few years. It hadn’t been something he went into detail of, but it was bad enough that he couldn’t say more than just that. 

Footsteps rang in her ears as the woman began to approach Lila. Her pace was slow but that look in her eyes spoke of danger that dare never be spoken into life lest it actually occurs. Lila began to step back until she could no longer put any more space between the two of them. Her back brushed against the tall hedge and her heart rate began to take flight. 

“I thought he was just throwing a tantrum. You know, as children will tend to do after some time, they throw fits and get angry with their parents because they don’t understand what’s good for them. I let him get away for a little while to cool off and sort of those silly little thoughts in his head, and it would have been alright if he hadn’t taken spending all of his time with a human,” her tone was so bubbly and yet so icy at the same time. 

“That wouldn’t have been so bad if he had decided to play with you. I thought if he got close to one of you, he would realize just how breakable and stupid you are all. He would realize humans are nothing but obsolete beings with false love in their hearts. You could have brought out the devil in him for me, and for that, I may have rewarded you if he didn’t break his plaything to pieces.” 

She was so close to Lila now that she could see it. 

Lila saw the truth in this woman’s eyes and the truth was painted red. It was as red as a rose or as red as her blood pouring through her veins. It was unnatural, unfeeling, and wrought with pure animosity. This woman… she was a monster, and this monster wanted nothing more than kill her and leave her to rot. 

A hand reached out and brushed against Lila’s cheek. It was as cold as Saeran’s had been but strangely… colder. Lila shivered and trembled. Her body wanted her to run but her brain seemingly understood that if she ran, things would be much worse. She might not even get away if she tried to make a break for it. 

This person wasn’t human. 

No, she was a devil in human form. 

“If he won’t break you… if he refuses to stop acting like a petulant child… if he refuses to see the truth, then I’ll have to fix everything for him. Even if he acts up, or says he hates me, I know the truth and I know what’s best for him. I’ll protect my sweet Saeran from the pain that I have suffered, and **I’ll start by killing you. Then he’ll know that the only love that matters in this world is the devotion he has for me.** ”

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

The staunch smell of blood was thick. 

It was so strong that Saeran was nearly taken back by it. He first thought that perhaps an animal had been hit by a car or something in that regard. It happened time from time and it would make an area smell like it was caked in blood. Yet, there was something about the scent in the air that seemed far too sweet to belong to a mere animal. 

It made him uneasy and concerned. Saeran decided that he needed to get a move on, and he had been already set back by his own thirst. He had to take care of that before he knew he would be safe enough to be in Lila’s company. Even being able to sense life all around you didn’t make it any easier to get the blood you needed. 

Saeran made his way through the familiar paths that Lila had pointed him down before, his body tight with dread. It had been such a long time since he had felt this. The last moment that he felt fear such as this had been after he came out of his animalistic instincts and realized what he had done to so many innocent people. 

He dug his nails into his palms. It wouldn’t cause pain but it was enough to bring him out of those concerns. 

He couldn’t focus on that feeling if he couldn’t seek out the source. It could very well be an animal but it could very well be something else. He didn’t know what it is but all he knew was that he needed to find Lila. 

As far as he knew, she should have been waiting for him on her own in the middle of those flowers just minding her own business. Knowing her, she might have been waiting since the sunset. She would be toying with her phone or counting the stars in the sky. 

Yet, the closer that he found himself getting to where she was supposed to be, the strongest the smell of blood grew to be. He didn’t want to believe it but the scent was sweet. That made him fearful. Had she gotten hurt again? Had she been clumsy and fallen down? Even if it was something silly, there should not have been this much blood in the air. 

Whatever was going on… 

It was not good. 

That was all it took for Saeran to run the rest of the way to where she told him she would be waiting for him.

Saeran found himself stopping dead in his tracks when he finally found the doorway that opened out the hidden center of the garden of Lila’s life. He found himself unable to move once his eyes settled on the ground in front of him. It was electricity that went through his entire body and he had to press a hand to his mouth to stomach the stench of fresh blood.

There, in the center of the world, in the center of her world, the center of what had become his world too, was Lila laying on the ground, motionless and a gaping wound in her neck that looked like her throat had been ripped apart by a monster. 

Her blood dripped from her body and covered the stone below it. 

Just like that, the fears that he had for the past few months had come flaring back to life. He had been so afraid of hurting Lila that he never even thought that she could get hurt because of him. This was surely his fault. She was laying here, likely dead, because of how close he had allowed himself to become to her. Was this his punishment for letting himself believe that he could be happy for even a moment? Was this the universe reminding him that no matter what he did he would always have to go back to the people that hurt him? Was he not allowed to be happy? Even in this endless state of damnation? 

He appeared at her side in an instant, the first thing he did was check to see if she was breathing. There was a very weak and shallow puff of air that escaped from her lips. She was barely breathing and if he didn't do something then she was going to die. She was going to die and leave him behind while he had to continue living in this world with nobody with him. He would go on knowing what it felt like to be cared for but he would never know what it felt like to have love at his side at all times. 

Saeran pulled away and looked down at her once again. 

This time, he was greeted by the sight of brown eyes that were ever-dulling by the passing second. There was a hint of clarity in them but it wasn't enough to say that she was totally aware of what was happening at that moment. He wanted to know what had happened, who had hurt her, who he needed to hurt... to kill... who he needed to get rid of to make up for this. But, he couldn't bring himself to ask her those grim questions. Rather, he found himself wanting to say all those things that he wanted to say to her this evening. How he wanted her to know that he cared about her so much and how he cherished what they had. 

"Sae... ran...?" her voice croaked. 

"I'm sorry," was the most that he could muster up as tears came to his eyes. "This is all my fault. I should have never let you be alone... I shouldn't have let you near me in the first place. I know this is my fault. I know it. I just know it. If I hadn't met you... if I would have been here sooner... If I just... if I wasn't such a coward... if I had just... I shouldn't have let you go yesterday. I never meant for this to happen to you. I wanted to protect you from pain and I'm the reason you're... you're..."

Saeran couldn't even say those words. 

A trembling hand reached up from the corner of his eye. It shook and it twitched. Lila's hand pressed against his own after she struggled to find the use in her hand. Her skin was so white and pale that he feared she didn't have any blood left to stimulate the flow across her body. The vampire that had used her like a drink to empty and throw away carelessly had barely left anything behind to prove that she was a thriving human being. 

Lila didn't look away from his eyes, and even though he wasn't sure if she could see him or not anymore, she smiled at him. She smiled at him with that very same smile that had stolen his heart from him the first time they had met. 

"...ove... you..." her voice had grown even quieter and he couldn't barely pick up the sound. "...ran..." 

Saeran jolted and looked down at her with the anguish in his body burning ever brighter. She was struggling with herself, and he could see it. Lila was fighting the sleep that would come over her body forever as hard as she could. As they both stared at one another underneath the pale moonlight, her lips mouthed the words that she so desperately wanted for him to hear one final time, "What? What is it, Lila?" 

Her eyes couldn't even fight to stay open anymore. Her lungs drew in and she managed to muster every ounce of strength that she had left in her body at that moment, and Saeran's unbeating heart felt every single word of it as that delicate voice hummed to him like an angel. Her hand went limp in his own, and he could hear it ringing in his ears over and over again as if like the beat of a drum that had no end, " _I love you_." 

She stopped moving. 

Saeran tried to shake her shoulders and he tried to get her to wake back up but no matter how hard he cried or how much he screamed, she wouldn't wake back up. Her body was no longer as warm as the sun. It was as cold as his own flesh. Be it out of his own fear at the prospect of losing Lila, or the fact that she never got to hear him say those very back to her, Saeran would ever know, but at that moment where his love lay unmoving, he acted out of nothing but the desire to save her life from ending. He knew nothing of what he was doing except for feeling that what he was doing was the right thing for him to do. 

The venom that had once dug into his skin when he was transformed now existed in his own veins, and it instilled into him the power to do the same very thing.

Against all other thoughts and judgments, his fangs sunk into her flesh at every spot he had within his reach. He didn't know how many times he would have to do it. She didn't have a lot of blood in her body and he could barely feel her pulse. From her arms to anywhere he could dig his teeth into, it may have been overkill, but he wasn't going to let her die on him without having done everything that he could do to ensure that she could keep on living in this world. 

Even if she would have to live in the darkness of the night... 

the world would be a better place having her in it than without. 

He wouldn't know it worked for sure until days had passed by and her wounds would slowly begin to heal themselves. It wasn't all at once. It happened day by day. He watched her minute by minute and hour by hour as if transfixed by her being. Saeran had taken her back with him to the house where he was staying to keep her away from the sunlight and to protect her from human interaction. He had cleaned up most of the blood but the smell of it was still locked into his memory no matter how hard he scrubbed at his hands and arms. He didn't know what it looked like on the outside when this happened, as he had only been changed himself a few years ago. 

He was never allowed to see when it happened to others. 

She looked like a sleeping beauty in her death-like state but he knew, he knew that she had to be suffering the same miserable heat of this damnation. He just prayed that the moment that she woke up that she wouldn't hate him for what he had done to save her life. Her cheeks weren't as rosy as they once were but he cared not for that, all he cared for was the hope that she would be alright when she awoke to him. 

And she eventually did, a week and a half later, with eyes as red as an apple and a thirst to go with them that would be sated. Yet, in those red eyes of his at that moment, he could see the same very woman that he had come to love after all this time. Saeran was on his knees at her side, with his hands pressed against her knees as he begged and pleaded for her forgiveness for what he had done to her in that dead of night. 

Lila's hand pressed to the top of his hand and offered an all too familiar gesture.

She wasn't angry with him. 

"I love you too," he whispered. 

"I know," she said. 


	4. Act IV

“Haha… come on, you mustn't really think that I’m gonna let you off the hook that easy.” 

“Alright, you got me. I won’t steal your H.B.C.”

“Thank you, Luciel. That’s the least that you can do after I nursed you back to health like a cute baby birdie! You ask nicely when you want to have some of my food, okay?” 

“Aye, aye, captain! May I pretty-pretty please have some of your H.B.C.?” 

“Mmm, sure, space cadet, this time I’ll share with you. Next time, though, I might change my mind about sharing with you.” 

It had been a few months since this girl had saved him from meeting an untimely end and he had settled into her life as if she had been the puzzle piece that he had been missing. As if he was supposed to be there the entire time. Minji was a sweetheart and had allowed him to come and see her whenever he wanted a break. 

He would find himself coming to see her more and more throughout the time they had met. It would be at least once a week at first but it had soon turned into him practically living at her place for half of the week. 

Luciel had found safety in the household of Minji Cho. She was a kind and caring girl that had left the family business of hunting behind as soon as she could escape. She had been raised to end the undead lives of monsters that she did not see the monster within. 

She did not believe that all vampires were evil creatures but she understood Luciel’s drive but she did not judge him for what he did. But, she did inspire him to look more deeply into what was happening around him when he was on a hunt. 

Were they truly causing problems or were they just trying to survive? 

Most of his cases from his agency were given to him because people were dying and things had to be covered up. But, there were a few that made him… question things. It didn’t stop his drive to get rid of them but it did make him uneasy. 

You had to cut yourself away from the fact that these beasts were once human to be able to do the job they did. Vanderwood made that clear with him when they told him how they had to kill people they once knew because they were changed. So, that notion combined with the humanity that Minji asked him to look for? 

A recipe for disaster, honestly. 

Humanity was supposed to be one way. The undead was supposed to be another way. It was supposed to be black and white, lines are drawn at the center and nothing more and nothing less. Hearing that someone could have faith in what was supposed to be a growling monster in the dead of the night was enough to make you think.

Minji swore up and down to him that not all vampires were to blame for the disasters. She had been rescued by one when she was young, she wouldn’t go into detail, but she made it clear that the vampire that saved her had a big heart. Their eyes had not been those of a monster, she claimed, they had been warm and full of concern. 

How could you ever think they were evil and simply that when one saved a little girl? 

Luciel didn’t understand but he didn’t argue with Minji’s opinion. He had simply been taught to believe another thing than what she had been taught. He had seen blood-red eyes and he had felt claws against his throat too many times to think otherwise on the matter. Minji would not lie to him, but the fact of the matter was—

Vampires had come too close to killing him more than once for him to think they were anything more than monsters. 

Nevertheless, he continued to march forward and do the job that he had sworn to do no matter what. 

He tried to push that notion away when he was with Minji. He wanted to enjoy the time that he got with her and he refused to waste a second. She needed to be kept away from everything that he was involved in. Nobody knew about her at all, not Vanderwood, not the agency, not the RFA members that he had come to know over the past few months. 

He would keep it that way. 

Love was a liability in his field. Having a family or loved ones meant that if a vampire knew what was close to you… they would destroy them one by one, or worse… things he didn’t want to even consider as an option.

He would not put her in danger and he would not let anyone get their hands on this woman. She deserved to be happy and to know a life without distress. Minji had had enough when she was a child and she had a right to enjoy her life. He made sure that she was safe. No vampires or humans would make trouble for her again as long as he was around. 

After all, Minji was just too perfect and too kind for him to ignore. 

Her hands on his face when she fretted and coaxed over his wounds had been enough to cement his need to have her near him. Any person that saw him dressed up and bloodied and yet had the kindness to take him home to help clean him up was a true saint. She thought that he was cute and wasted no time making that fact known. 

As a matter of fact, in his state of delirium, she had commented that he was pretty, no matter what he identified as. If he had been in the right state of mind, he would have been tongue-tied and flustered by those words. 

Minji just knew how to make a situation feel less like a mess and more like it was going to be okay. It had taken her a while to get him stitched up but she managed to take care of everything in a jiffy. She made a hell of a nurse. When he asked later how she knew how to do that, she only had a sad look in her eyes, when she said she learned when she was a young girl.

He didn’t need to know more after that. 

When he kept coming back to see her after she helped him, it was with the excuse that he needed to be patched up, but he knew that he could have handled it himself. He felt indebted to her kindness but she would not take anything from him. So, he offered his services when he did come around to see her to make up for it. 

She easily got a cute maid to clean up her apartment. 

Hanging around Minji was easy. It was easy to talk to her and he had nothing to worry about except just being himself around her. She didn’t ask questions and she didn’t pry but she did let him know that anything could be on the table if he needed to vent. He didn’t dump things on her but he did like that she was happy to listen. 

Today, for example, she was gladly giving him a distraction from his last mission. 

Her blonde hair was tucked back into a high ponytail and a sweater had been tossed over her shoulders when he showed up early in the morning with a few scrapes and bruises. He cleaned himself up and she cooked breakfast in the meantime. It was no different than any other time that he had found himself in her company. 

Minji teased him and played around when he ate.

It was warm and filling, so much unlike what he had often made for himself. Quick, fast, and easy. That was the way that he lived his life and tasting something that had been made low and slow with love tasted all that much better.

“Better?” Minji smiled when he practically licked the plate clean. 

“Much,” Luciel nodded. 

“I’m glad to hear it,” she took his plates from him and began to clean them in the sink. Her back was to him as she hummed underneath her breath. “You should probably get some rest too, okay? I don’t think you’ve had any tonight. You can borrow my bed for a while.”

“Only if you join me,” he said, rising from the table. 

He strode across the room and rested his hands around her waist with his forehead resting against her back. Minji was a little taller than he was, so he couldn’t quite peek over her shoulder but he could do this. Press his lips against the back of her neck to make her shiver and laugh. 

“Luciel!” she scolded him, “What happened to waiting for marriage?” 

“I just wanted to cuddle,” Luciel chuckled. “If you want to do more, I don’t think that would be all that hard either, baby.” 

She made her own sputtered sound when he pushed her buttons, groaning and giggling at his attempts to knock her off her feet. “Don’t tease, Lucy. I’ll make you pay for these crimes later if that’s the game you want to play.” 

“Oh? Is my kitten dangerously close to thinking on the dark side?” he asked her with a smile. “I dare say that’s the most sadistic thing you’ve ever said to me.” 

Minji turned around in his arms and wrapped her arms around him, “Well, you did wake me up earlier then I’m used to… and you know I’m awake when the sun rises on the horizon, Lucy. You should make it up to me somehow if that’s what we’re playing, and I think cuddling is a fair price for me making you breakfast, don’t you think?”

“Alright, alright. I owe you,” he caved. 

“That’s what I thought,” she said. 

The two of them erupted into laughter together as the cicadas hummed outside the window of her apartment. It was a lovely moment and something that he had longed craved. Enjoying the warmth of somebody’s love is something that he never thought that he would ever be able to experience but being here was enough for him. 

Feeling Minji’s arms around him was all that he needed to keep on living. 

She made no judgments, she only sought to ensure that he was taking care of himself like he promised he would do. Luciel could not have felt happier than he did when he was with Minji. 

He prayed this time he had with her would not ever come to an end. A few years of living in peace like this was ahead of him from this point but this moment of bliss would not last forever, unfortunately. As a matter of fact, it would be three years before this momentary reprieve would be forced to come to a close. 

And Luciel did not know the storm that was awaiting him at the end of this tunnel. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

Three years. 

It had been three years since Lila had been attacked that faithful night and Saeran had no choice but to transform her into a creature like himself to save her life. He did it during the heat of the moment, and he had not known if it would even work to save her life. 

He had gotten lucky and gotten to her just in time to induce the process. 

The back of his mind was still haunted by the sight of her small body, parlor, and nearly torn to shreds on the dirt like a broken toy left to rot, her hair dampened and clumped up with dried blood leaking from her head, and her brown eyes almost looking through him as she tried to croak something that he could not understand. 

How he had desperately gripped her hands and had to sink his teeth into every part of her body that he could reach as her pulse started to slow down more and more by the moment. 

It had taken nearly two weeks for her body to come to grips with the venom that he had injected and when she awoke, brown eyes gone and replaced with a ruby red, he feared that she would feel the same thirst and lack of control that he had been pressured to give into. Yet, she stared at him, obviously parched but she was still there. 

The woman that he had come to love was still inside of her body. 

She was just a little different now. No longer a petite human who was clumsy and constantly getting hurt because she did everything for her family. She was now a creature of the night, a vampire just as he was, damned to live forever and survive on the blood of others to live. She was no longer hurt, however, and that was what made the guilt lessen. 

Lila had been suffering, so terribly, and had it not been for him, she would have been dead long before he came into her life. They were both okay with this fate as it was now. He had no choice, and she had no choice of what would come. But, they had each other and as long as they had each other, things would be okay. 

At least, Saeran wanted to believe that. 

After he had taken the time to help her quench her thirst as best as he could, the two of them talked about what had happened that night. He had wanted to know who had harmed her and nearly left her for dead. Lila could remember nothing but green eyes and blonde hair before she started screaming and her vision went black. 

Saeran’s stomach twisted in knots when she said that. 

He knew who had tried to harm the woman that he loved and he knew that neither of them was going to be safe if they stayed in this place. It was at that point that he had to be honest with Lila about who he had run away from and why. 

Some of the details… he couldn’t talk about them at length, not even now. 

But, he let Lila know that he had been changed against his will one night and been used as a science experience more or less for a few months. How Rika would not stop until he went back to that place on his accord and that he was the reason that she had been hurt. 

The guilt of that still bothered him, even to this day. 

Now, they were living on the run, going town to town, and exploring the world together as normal as they could seem to the eyes of humans. To anyone that caught a glimpse of them during the evening, they would have seen an average couple holding hands, but if they looked hard enough on a bad day they would see red eyes. 

The thirstier you are, the more red appears, after all. 

Today, Saeran was trying to sort out where they should go next as they had been staying in this most recent location far too long. It was the season where the sun stayed out for such a long time and it was hard to travel at night when your hours were limited. 

They made the best of it, though, it just was not always easy if eyes were starting to be raised. 

Animal blood only sustained a vampire for so long and it would run out of their system much quicker than the blood of a human. 

Still, neither of them wanted to use that option unless they had no other choice but to do that. 

“Saeran,” she said, reaching over to brush her hand against his leg. “You need to rest.” 

They were sitting together in their dingy hotel room on the bed as Saeran poured over his phone to see what he could find. It was hard to hide the trail when both of them were up against an entire group of vampires instead of simply one. They knew what to look for and they could only hide so much when they made a mess. 

“Technically, I don’t need any rest,” he said, quietly. “I realize you’re concerned but I promise I’m alright. As long as you’re with me, I never tire.” 

“That’s always your excuse,” Lila leaned her head against his shoulder. “I know you can handle yourself but you’ve been taking care of us for such a long time. It’ll be alright. I’m sure you’ll be able to find the next safe spot from them.”

“About that…” he trails. 

Lila frowns. 

Saeran looks back at her with that look in his eyes that says he’s got something to say that he’s not happy about saying. He hesitates and then speaks. “About that, I think I have something but I need to go ahead to scout things out first. It’s too dangerous to take you with me because of that last close call we had.”

“So you want me to wait here for you,” she said, quietly. 

He shook his head. “No, I know you would hate to do that. I have a meeting spot that I’ve ensured is safe that I want you to head to. I can’t leave you here knowing they could already be onto us. I don’t put it back her to send hunters, either. So, I need you to keep moving while I make sure that we have a safe place to go.”

Saeran interlocked his fingers with her own. 

Hers were still so small in his. But, there was a firmness in them now that was not there when she was a human. She could fight off anyone she wanted to if it came down to it, but he did not want her to have to go to that means. As long as he could protect her, she would not have to fight. 

“You’re strong,” she affirms. “I’m so proud of you, Saeran. You’re always protecting us and I know how hard that is.” 

“I’m stronger with you,” he murmured. “I would be nothing without you.” 

“And I would not be here if not for you,” Lila said. She meant it, she meant every word of it. She was happy that he had saved her life. She did not see what he did as him taking her life away, if he had not acted to save her, she would have died. 

He saved her, and that was how she saw this. 

They shared a kiss. 

It was a brief one, with them both pulling away momentarily before leaning back into to steal another and another and another. When they were together in this way, it was like electricity was coursing through his veins. He couldn’t resist being close to her and she couldn’t stop herself from trying to cling to him. 

Perhaps it was because they both understood that life was not a given. They had to live each moment like it was the last one they would ever share. It would be this way until Rika and her group were taken down and they could live in peace. 

It would happen, it would  _ have  _ to happen. 

“I don’t want to leave you,” Saeran chuckled when she pulled back. Her forehead pressed against his own. “You make it so hard to leave.” 

“It’s so you’ll come back to me,” she reminds him with a smile. “Now, tell me what I need to do and I will do it. I trust you, Saeran.”

So, he gave her everything that she needed to know. How she would have to travel and how he would meet her late in the night. It was too far for her to make the walk on foot so she would have to travel during the day to get there but as long as she did as she normally did and covered herself, it would be alright. 

Saeran would walk and use the cover of the woods to make sure there were no tracks or markings that would leave to either of them. 

They separated that evening with her in a taxi and him setting off on foot. 

Saeran would scout everything out and ensure that there were no signs of Mint Eye, and Lila would go to a safe area that he knew had no hunters or vampires to speak of. It was supposed to be very simple and nothing more to it, but life had never been kind to these two. 

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

Luciel was pissed. 

There was no way to say this beyond those simple words. He was angry and not even the wrath of Satan would be enough to describe what he was feeling. Luciel had let himself become complacent in his new life and his guard was too far lowered. 

They had taken the one person that he cared for and held her like a toy in front of him as a trap. Minji had been kidnapped and was now being used to lure him into a trap. He had come back from a mission only to find Minji’s home in shambles and a note left for him that simply read: **You do have a weakness, hunter** . 

They had taken the woman he loved and now he did not know what he was going to do. No, he knew what he was going to do. He was going to hunt down every single one of them and rip them limb from limb until they were unrecognizable. 

He was going to make sure that they never did anything ever again just for looking at her, but if they hurt her—

Nothing was going to stop him from destroying every vampire he saw. 

He hated them. 

He hated them all. 

They had taken everything that he had left and now, he had to fight to get it back. He did not even know if they would keep her alive for long. A human in a den of vampires? They would kill her or worse, change her just to spite him if it came down to it. Minji was strong and she knew how to protect herself but one human against a group? 

Odds were not in her favor. 

He told Vanderwood that he had a mission to do that had been given to him alone, and then he set off to destroy the vampires that had taken her from him. They had left him a location to go to but only that, and he would have to buy himself time with this so his boss wouldn’t know what he was doing and that he had been going against the agency’s orders. 

It would not last for long, the lie, that is. 

So, he had to do this fast and hard. It was only a matter of time until she got hurt or he got caught and he wasn’t going to lose against the clock, not again. He had protected his baby brother and he was not going to lose Minji too. He may not be able to see Saeran, but he can see Minji, and that means he has to protect her. 

He followed the note to the exact location and found himself a desolate town late at night. It was foggy out and the conditions were poor. It wasn’t good for human eyes. He made sure to park his car and take out what he needed before exiting and starting to scope out the place. The town was his only clue and he had nothing else to go on. 

It was hardly populated by any means, and that struck him as odd. Most vampires stick to big cities for their targets. It was better for them to go undetected. Murders and crime happened all the time in a city, but not in a small town. 

They were trying to ensure that Luciel couldn’t bring backup or get help, weren’t they? 

It wasn’t going to stop him from killing them. If anything, it made it better because he was going to make sure they were screaming until the end. For every injury and the wound he found on Minji, he was going to inflict it back on them tenfold. 

Luciel looked around, but there were hardly any people in town. He found himself checking each face he walked past for the telltale markers but they were all humans. That made him feel like this had been a dead-end, making him groan and grit his teeth in frustration. He eventually stopped and turned into an alley. 

He made his way to the end of it and turned to make a right for the next block but he walked right into a girl. She was short, much smaller than he was. He almost mistook her for a kid but he figured out real fast that she was a woman. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice a little hollow as he found forced joy to not be easy at the moment. 

“It’s okay,” the voice replied. “It happens.” 

He offered her his hand to help and when she stood up, she looked at him and blinked. It was like she knew him, she was tracing his face with her eyes and then something clicked. “Saeran?” she asked, her brows feathered.

“I thought you said that you were going to be back by sunrise. How did you get here? Was there trouble? Please, tell me you didn’t run into any hunters. We barely got away from them the last time, are you hurt?” her voice is pained, worried, and panicked. 

Luciel finds that he can only stare at her in shock. She said the name of his twin brother, and she seemed like she knew him. She wouldn’t have said that to a stranger and she would not have looked at his face like that if she didn’t know it. 

His mirror image. 

Then, he realized, she mentioned hunters. That was when he noticed her eyes were not entirely brown. There was a glimmer to them that was tinged in red as if she were a… 

No, no! 

All thoughts of Minji are put on hold as he turns his rage onto this woman. Luciel can’t stop himself from slamming the woman against the concrete wall to the right of them with a hard shove. 

Her back collides and she lets out a loud wince but pushes back against his hold with a firm grip that is not human. He is bigger than she is, and he had the upper hand with the way his fingers are around her throat. It takes him a split second to pick up his stake with his free hand and press it against her skin as she visibly panics. 

She looks into his eyes and finally notices that the color is not green, “You’re not… Saeran…” she breathes, horrified. 

“No, you monster, that’s my brother,” he hissed with such venom in his voice it almost burned. “Now, tell me how in the hell you know who he is,  _ vampire _ . I am already looking to kill the first vampire that fucks with me. I’m going to give you till the count of three or I’m going to drive this into your undead heart and leave you here to burn in the fucking sun.” 

She struggled against his hold but it was no use, no matter how hard she kicked against him, he would not let go. This was a hunter, and this hunter was ready to kill her and leave her for dead just like that. She and Saeran had come into contact with hunters before but he had made her go ahead and refused to let her see what happened. 

But this was the true power of a hunter. They trained for years to kill vampires and Lila, now a vampire and years away from her humanity, was a target for people like that. She did not want to die, not again… not like this! 

“Please, stop!” she pleaded with him. “I can explain everything if you just give me a moment, I promise, I won’t hurt you!” 

“I can’t say the same for myself, monster,” Luciel growled. 

“Saeran didn’t tell me he had a brother,” she tried to reason with him but it was not getting her anywhere with him. “Look, he’s important to me too! I’ve been with him for a few years now. He’s going to be here soon, I told you I was waiting for him! We’ve been together for a long time now and he’s been protecting us from—”

The stake in Luciel’s hands pressed just a smidge harder against her chest. It was silver, and it burned like hell. It burned almost as hot as the fire that had enveloped her body when she was first transformed. 

“You’ve been with him for a while?!” Luciel found his anger rising even higher, not stopping to hear any more. “He’s supposed to be far away from monsters like you! Don’t lie to me, temptress, did you take him away from his happiness to use him as some plaything, I know how you monsters are with humans—”

Luciel was on the ground and the woman was freed from his grasp. The redhead rolled over and sank to a defensive position as he watched a dark figure move the woman behind them. Clearly, this was her partner, he assumed. 

Perhaps they were in league with the monsters that took Minji? This could have been a bigger trap than he thought. 

“Saeran,” the woman said, her voice was trembling from the attack. “Please, wait. This hunter said he was your—”

The hood fell from the man’s head and revealed a familiar shade of red hair that matched Luciel’s. His eyes were green and his skin was nearly as white as a sheet, there were rings under them as if he had not been getting any sleep, and his figure was slim as if he hadn’t been getting fed. He was dressed in all black, dark jeans, a black shirt, and a leather hoodie.  Green eyes met golden eyes all at once... eyes that had last met when they were both human, but now, these brothers were separated by more than distance. One was undead and the other was living. One was a hunter, and the other was a vampire. 

They couldn't have been more different. 

Saeran found himself unable to say anything at all. 

Luciel didn't know what to do, so he just stared at him, and then buried his face in his hands, letting out a painful sob at the realization that his little brother, the one that he had left to protect from their father, and eventually, from the undead, was now the very thing that he had been trying to kill. 

“Saeyoung…?” 

**Author's Note:**

> This started as AU on my blog and it snowballed so far that I wound up making two new OCs for it and now we're here. So, if you're interested in a hot take on the Vampire AU with Saeran and Saeyoung where they get the love and affection they deserve from some goofy OCs then you've come to the right place. I hope you guys stick around to see where this is going. We're just getting started here, and Saeran gets the fortune of being the one to kick off the tale.


End file.
